Final Fantasy XII: Darkness Rising
by Celestia Ruby Calhoun
Summary: Haunted by strange dreams, Larsa finds himself in possesion of a magickal crystal, but the truth behind such a jewell is more than he ever expected. A power wanted by many and, feared by the ones who truly holds it and which may put the life of a young girl at risk and turns the young prince in the only one who can save her. Full summary inside.
1. A Tale of a Lost Kingdom

_Two young princesses strugle to adapt to a new life after war, but when their lives get intertwined with the ones of two young man of mysterious powers and pasts, they see themselves hunted down by a shadowy group and new danger looming in the horizon wich may break them apart forever. At the same time, haunted by strange dreams, Larsa finds himself in possesion of a magickal crystal, but the truth behind such a jewell is more than he ever expected. A power wanted by many and, feared by the ones who truly holds it and which may put the life of a young girl at risk and turns the young prince in the only one who can save her._

 **It was supposed to be part of my rewrite, but it got too many chapters, so I decided to separe this one into a shorter prequel. I will relaunch Time Rift as soon as this one is over.**

 **I don't own Final Fantasy, but you all know that. I just own the OCs and MOCs, the kingdom of Kristelia and general Rift concept, I do not own the MCs exactly, but am the one responsible for the changes from their respective mirrors and I don't even know what to say about the GCs.**

* * *

 ** _Prolog: A Tale of a Lost Kingdom_**

Once again, a powerful shoot from one of the airships above the frontier-city of Lunnia, on the border between the Kingdom of Kristelia and the city-state of Archadia, shook the entire palace. The little baby on her mother's arms began to cry, scared, one of her older, twin sisters hugged the middle sister, who also looked scared.

A soldier ran down the nearby watch tower into the room.

"The wall has fallen, sir." He announced to both, the king and the captain. "They're coming."

The attack was announced a few days ago, by a traveling Viera, who ran back to the city as soon as she saw the signs of the army coming. All the city had been evacuated, but the royal family, residing in the fortress since the capital was invaded by the Mist, the nature growing too wild for living, decided on staying behind, thrusting the magical barriers that protected the inner walls of the fortress, but even them had fallen by now and reinforcements were far from arriving on time.

The Archadian soldiers came by the hundreds, by the immense gap in the wall. The attackers razed the defenders of the fortress with the ease with which a hurricane devastated the marsh grass.

"The fortress is no longer safe." The king turned to the guards who accompanied the royal family. "Regulus, bring my armor. Sean, Send a message to the nearest towns. Captain Tally, I take charge of the security of our beloved queen and the princesses. Take them to the shelter, run the emergency procedure and protect the place. Others should prepare to face the enemy with me. "

"Yes sir!" All the soldiers replied, departing to follow the orders given.

"Dad, can't I fight?" Asked the younger of the twins, drawing her small dagger with courage far beyond the expected for a princess of only seven years old.

The king laughed and ruffled his daughter's hair.

"Maybe when you are older, Larxly. For now, your sisters need you more than me."

Larxly looked at her twin sister, but nodded and forced a small smile to her father.

"Do not worry, Father, I will take care of my sisters." Valery offered, politely. While Larxly had that rebel and brave side, she was completely like the princess she actually was.

"I know. I will join you soon. Now you all must go. Everything will be fine."

He then embraced and tenderly kissed the Queen and each of the girls. Vanille was now crying too, as did her baby sister. Vallery was the one who did her best to remain impassive in the face of everything, but she had a terrible feeling.

* * *

The shoes were beginning to bother Alva but she hesitated on taking them off. Even with her feet shaped to walk in these stilettos they still hurt a bit after climbing the whole hill by foot. She looked wild on the mysterious mirrors the Mist formed around her, long ears stained with blood, hair dirty and messed up, clothes thorn and also dirty, but she couldn't bring herself up to actually care.

Anyway, the shoes did not bother the young Viera more than the high concentration of Mist swirling inside the royal palace of Irvlyn, in the kingdom of Kristelia. She was not so sensitive to that like other Viera; still it made her a little unstable. The sweet scent it gave off reminded Alva of home, a home she had lost too many years ago.

Lost between memories she would rather let behind not to feel their weight, the words began to flow from her before she could think and stop them, forming a song she never thought she would sing, but one she had heard so many times before. A song not meant to the world of Ivalice, not meant to a Sky Pirate like her, not meant to these dark and hollow hallways she made her way through, too happy to her slow and slight dark voice. It sounded like a ghost.

"Angel, Angel, look at yourself. Look what you have done to yourself." A little girl could occasionally be seen, walking backwards in front of her. "No more than a shadow of what once was the greatest Sky Pirate of the Bridge. What have you done?"

Alva ignored the little girl before her, just shook her head and kept walking. _She doesn't exist._ She told herself. _A shadow of the past, she isn't real._ And no, she wasn't going to talk to an illusion, she had to keep her sanity through all that.

Her slender fingers trailed the border of the well at the center of the garden as she stopped singing. The water was pure and clear, like mostly water in Kristelia, but the bottom of the well gave out a strange bluish glow. Alva put both her hands by the sides of the well and closed her eyes doing, maybe, the most stupid thing of her life. A new song filled the air as the Mist grew stronger, the water shone brighter and the little pendant around the Viera's neck ignited into a spark.

She began to lose her support and fall towards the water, when a pair of hands grabbed her from behind and pushed her away from the well. The two feel to the ground with a loud metallic sound, but Alva recovered quick and jumped to her feet, drawing her dagger.

She quickly recognized her stalker and savior as Leon, a young soldier from Kristelia. She didn't relax to at the sight, her senses too tense from the Mist effect.

"What are you doing here?" The Viera hissed. He shouldn't be there and she did not like to be surprised like that.

"I was sent for word of the researches going on here." He stood up, dusting off his armor. "Where is everyone?" Leon looked around, suddenly worried.

It was after the comet passed a month ago, the Mist began to get stronger, from inside the castle and spreading around the city. All the nature began to grow wild and monsters began to attack, until the city had to be evacuated. A group of researches went back to look for the root of the problem, so why there wasn't anyone around?

His gaze went towards the Viera, who still held her dagger and a ferocious look he'd never seen before, then noticed the little of blood that stained her clothes and he stepped back, also drawing his sword.

Alva gave out a dark chuckle. Humes were so drawn to jump to conclusions...

"I haven't seen a living soul, except for a few dark wolves and the well." She told him, turning to look back at the water, the glow had diminished. "Get out while you still have the chance."

"Is this a menace?" He stood firm, ready to fight if necessary, even unsure if he could win.

"A warning. This place is not meant for Humes anymore."

She made her way back inside, consciously she was being followed, but ignored her Hume partner and began to look out for any other sign of life.

It was easy to see things through the Mist. Reflections of her family and friends long lost, but she tried to ignore the memories. They came to a stop by the throne room, as she examined a dragon engraved in the wall. Around it were twelve crystal-shaped holes in a circle, each with a zodiac symbol below.

"Twelve Zodiac Stars, one to each sign, one to each knight." Leon told her, approaching. "But the original Stars were lost long ago."

 _I know._ Alva told herself. All about the Order of the Zodiac and its knights were her object of study for the last six years. To her partner she asked:

"What is this for?"

"I do not know. Legends are too vague about the power locked by the Zodiac spell, but it came from the stars centuries ago, like the last comet."

It sounded too familiar to Alva, like a totally different kind of star, fallen four centuries ago, its glow long lost, its power long faded. She held a hand to her chest and sighed, walking away from the dragon, rage building up.

If fate was a real thing, it had been too cruel with her. Taken appart from her family and friends, forced to live in a boring cycle of attempts and failures with barelly any hope. It was an adventure she really wished to end, a part of her history she wanted to pretend never happened, yet something she could not run from. Some people believed they could control the flow of time but it was no more than an illusion.

As she turned her back to the wall, the young Viera saw the Mist so thick she barelly could see the room around. Her body began to glow in a faint blue light; the pouch hidden inside her clothes gave out a fiery light. A single memory came a little to strong to her mind, of a moment before all of that happened, when she came to the realization she was caught into a trap and the last treasure she fought for was more than she even wished for, a piece of the past in challenge of the future...

She could faintly hear Leon calling for her at the distance. The movements came involuntary as Alva turned to look at the wall again, the song she sang by the well spread through the air and the dragon's eyes began to shine. She approached the wall and saw one of the holes glowing. Once again the Viera held a hand to her chest, singing with the voiceless song.

And it came in a flash, before she could fathom the magick; the stone dragon moved its head and bit down on her. It wasn't big enough to eat her in a bite or to do her in pieces, but the fangs were powerful enough to cross the pieces of armor she wore and her own magickal shield was already too weakened to save her.

Through the pain, all Alva could register was Leon's voice, now louder and closer, and the little girl, smiling at her a few meters away before everything went dark.

* * *

A small group of soldiers riding their chocobos soon overtook the group in the Black Swamp.

Tally saw them coming, she looked at both soldiers that accompanied them, both giving sign they also were aware of the approaching enemy. They would not get very far; she would have to find another way...

"Your Majesty! Take the girls to the shelter. I and my men will take care of our persecutors."

But she didn't need to when a Twilister emerged from the nearby river and attacked the soldiers. That specie dragon had been a major threat to all Kristelia since the passage of blue comet, but it was a welcome distraction.

But that was not the only danger of the wild swamp. They were surrounded by a bunch of Dark Wolves and a little battle was formed.

Amid the confusion, Larxly pulled Vallery and Vanille away through the trees. She had said she would protect them and that's what she would do. But it was not a very wise decision to move away from their guards. A pair of wolves attacked the princesses; Larxly pulled out her dagger but was attacked and saved by her twin sister with a little spell. Vanille began to run back to where her mother was, dodged from a wolf attack, lost her balance and fell into the swamp.

While Vallery tried to keep the wolves at bay with the few weak spells she knew, Larxly tried to rescue her younger sister, but she was again attacked, the dagger slipped from her hand and slid away and she was forced to retreat.

Vanille could not swim, but struggled, scared, trying to get out of the water. In desperation she tried to use magic, as she usually saw her older sisters doing, but she did not know much, the magic escaped her control, beginning to freeze the water. The last thing she saw was a spot of a creature of blue feathers or fur, before blackening out.

The twins were also getting desperate. Tired and frightened, they found themselves trapped in the shade of a large tree, when a boomerang came out of nowhere and hit the wolves, giving off sparks that scared them away. The man retrieved his weapons and ran to the girls' side.

"Are you all right? Are any of you injured?" He asked worriedly.

"No." Larxly said. "But Vanny fell in the swamp. I tried to save her but the wolves ..."

Flyin ran to near the water to find it completely frozen by now, except for a hole at the center. But the little girl was safe in the nearby bank, completely soaked, frost covering part of her clothes and hair and she looked paler than usual.

"Little Princess!" He quickly took her in his arms and found out she was cold but breathing. "She is alive." He murmured, relieved, even if that wasn't enough. He was a Blue Mage, but his magic wasn't enough to identify the problem with the little princess and to save her. There was a strange resistance from the Mist around.

"Vanny will be fine?" Vallery asked, checking out her little sister.

"I do not know, little princess."

Flyin turned his attention to the battle, but this apparently had ended. Two Archadian guards were dead, the others fled, the dragon seemed fast asleep, or probably very sore, but definitely still alive and unconscious. For the rest of his group some seemed injured, but definitely they were all alive.

Deep down he was relieved. He had come looking for his girlfriend and arrived in time to save the three older princesses. On the other hand, Flyin was concerned with the fate of Vanille and what had taken the girl off the water.

"We need a white mage urgent!" He urged the group, handing the injured princess to one of the guards. "She fell on the swamp; I do not know what happened."

"That is all right." Tally nodded to her boyfriend. "We will take her to the shelter." She turned to the queen. "She will be fine."

"No." Calyssa replied, weakly resting against a nearby tree. Flyin rushed to her and took Lily out of her arms.

"Are you all right, your majesty?"

"No, Mr. Feinster." She showed him a long cut alongside her left forearm. "A cursed blade, I think. We will not reach the shelter in enough time to the antidote be of any help."

"We can…" The guard who wasn't with the princess began to suggest, but was gently interrupted by the queen.

"No. The time is almost over, so does the battle, I assume. The abandoned aerodrome is nearby; take the girls away from Kristelia, to a safe place."

"Princess Vanille just has one or two days left." The guard carrying said girl informed. "I reckon the symptoms of a magickal explosion. The only place we could reach in time flying an old airship would be Archadia and it is no safe ground."

"The Shooting Star is no old airship. Alva would never abandon an unfinished story, seek Flare and ask for her help." She sighed and sat down, Flyin knelt down by her side and the twins ran to their mother as well. The queen tried to smile at her little girls. Vallery was already crying. "My dear girls, be brave. I know it is hard, but a time will come when you will need to fight for the things you believe in, for your lives and the ones you love. Nothing would make me happier than to know my fight was not in vain. Go now and make me proud." She hugged the two girls, then kissed the younger one's cheek and made a gesture, clearly dismissing the group.

"Your Majesty." Tally bowed, respectfully, then took both girls by the hands and began to walk away without a word. She knew it was her duty and all the queen said was true.

Almost crying, her boyfriend did the same, soon followed by the soldier carrying Vanille. The other soldier stood by the queen's side until the end, then taking her body back to the shelter.

The rest of the group was silent during the trip to the old aerodrome, except for occasional sniffs and sobs, from the twin princesses and sometimes the Blue Mage. Years before there was a route connecting two cities and a travelers point in between, but the high concentration of Mist in the swamp quickly altered the environment and they abandoned the road. The old aerodrome still worked through, with a few old airships belonging to no one in particular. But when Alva arrived in the city, six years ago, she and her Moogle partner, Flare, made of the place a kind of base, living in their ship, the Shooting Star, which the Viera claimed to be the fastest in Ivalice.

The place was dark and silent, like any abandoned place should be. Two of the three airships outside looked rusted and abandoned, just like the place, but the third was blue and golden, with a rare design and seemed gleaming new. As the group approached, a little Moogle jumped off the trees.

"Hello, people! What a surprise to have visitors!" She claimed. "Why the long faces?" No one replied, not knowing what to say, but Flare seemed to understand as she lowered her head and her smile faded. "I understand… In fact, I did expect it. Do you all need a ride? Sorry, but the Shoot was not made to take this much people inside. Alva is out for now, but she gave me specific instructions, to take the mage and the younger princesses to Rajn, in Dalmasca and send the others off somewhere else. Luckily, for you all, I have the old Comet there just fixed, if any of you can fly it. Before any of you ask why to separate, it would be easy for two airships to be caught going to the same place and the Shoot is too fast for any Comet, even a new one." The Moogle said in a single breath.

"Wait!" Tally observed her, suspicious. "She knew we were coming?"

"She knew you were the last ones to the shelter. Alva is smart and I have learnt not to question her. So, let's go before the Archadians come for us, can we?"

* * *

Aily woke up scared, feeling the pain that ran through her entire body. She curled herself up, watching the other Viera before her prepare a potion, probably to help her. it had never been like this and she felt a strange lack of energy... What was going on?

She heard the sounds of an airship's engines, too nearby to just come from the nearby city. No longer after, a man of short, light brown hair and blue eyes came in, carrying an unconscious, dark-haired girl, around four or five years old. The man looked at her and she forced a weak smile back while Rajn approached the newcomers.

"May I help you?" The older Viera asked, examining the girl.

"She has gone through a magickal explosion a day ago. Can you help?"

The Viera touched the girl's forehead, then nodded.

"She has gone through a slight freeze, but you brought her quick to me, she will be fine. She just need to be warmed up, but if it affected her brain, her memories may never completely recover." She took the girl on her own arms and laid her on an empty and nearby bed. "She should be awake in a day or two, but it is safer if she stay a little longer, just to be sure."

"I can take care of her, if you want." The younger Viera suggested, from her spot. "At least untill she is ready to go home." Flyin lowered his head, just now thinking he had no further instruction on what to do with the girls or where to meet the rest of the group. "Here is maybe the safest place in Ivalice for younger girls right now." She added.

"What if she had no home to go back?"

"I would tell you she would be safe with us. Are you her father?"

"No."

"Then she is welcome. Any girl is. I may take a time to recover, but the Roses will take care of her."

Flyin considered his options. He could let the girl over, if they would also take care of Lily while he tried to locate the other princesses. Dalmasca was far enough from Archadia to be safe, maybe they should all move there later. For some strange reason, this young Viera reminded him so much of Alva, but could him trust her? He looked back at her deep blue eyes and somehow knew he could.


	2. The Blue Comet

**This chapter was pretty hard to edit, I didn't know exactly what I wanted when I first wrote it, but it has improved quite a lot and adjusted pretty well. Its still an original chapter so I only don't own the scenary where this chapter's take place and other mentioned locations aside from Kristelia.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 1: Blue Comet**_

Flynn remained with the little princesses until Vanille woke up. Her memories seemed unaffected, but she was under a strange lack of energy and the magick did seem to go haywire around her. Aily promised she could help, but it would take time.

Meanwhile, he found out the younger Viera was a Sky Pirate once a gifted kristelian girl, the name she made herself was nowhere near to tell the whole story, and although she wasn't going to tell him the rest, the blue mage knew kristelians enough to know, if she gave him her word, she was bound to it. Aily was there because she'd faced a rare beast in the desert and barely escaped. Apparently the usual potions and spells weren't working to heal the wounds and Rajn was growing worried about her condition.

She led Flynn to meet the group from which she offered help. They actually lived in that camp in the desert, instead of the city. For protection, some would say, others would point out it was just their way of being different, not being directly under the system. The twelve woman, known as Zodiac Roses, were a group of dancers that traveled around Dalmasca, their real names unknown, except for the ones who could remember of their youth, and they often used colorful hooded capes and well crafted masks, but they had settled down recently and looked after a few young girls, be their younger initiates or others who looked up to them to learn something new.

They were like a rare tribe, following traditions and beliefs different from the other humes, part of their legends and magick traditionally kristelian, kept for generations after the original group was formed. It made trusting them difficult to mostly people, old legends of thievery and treason not helping a little, but like Aily, they were bound to their words if someone truly knew how to deal with them.

He promised to the four years old princess he would come back and trusted her's and her sister's guard to the leader of the Roses, known as Faith. As far as he knew them in the last few days, they were in good hands.

But he had not gone back, and it was eight years ago.

Within these eight years the Kristelian refugees settled down in an alliance with Nabradia and plans were made for their return to the refuge city built within the Black Swamp before the archadian forces finally found it out but, before action could be taken, the same strange Mist which destroyed Kristelia's capital long before the war, swallowed the hidden fortress, all their hopes with it.

The four princesses being the only thing left of Kristelia's original power and the only hope to its rebuilt couldn't be hidden under their mother's Rozarrian blood, thus Vanille and Lily were left in Dalmasca and Vallery and Larxillyan raised under Flynn's family name, but taught and trained by kristelian traditions, prepared for the war everyone was afraid of.

But beside being twins, both born within Kristelia and under its Mist's influence, Vallery had the kristelian touch her sister did not. The calm and patience typical of Kristelia's people, an empathetic link to people around her, characteristics considered important for the complete recovery of the real Kristelia. And over the years, she acquired what the refugees called Kristal Balance, becoming a skilled Red Mage, ready for her trial of graduation at fifteen, although they usually happen when the student completed seventeen.

Larxly, in turn, began to receive separate training at fourteen. She was proud, stubborn, reckless and impatient. The younger twin enjoyed fighting and thought her strength as the best way to solve her problems. The girl's curiosity and adventurer spirit often led to problems and dangers that threaten not only herself.  
But what Larxly missed in all the attributes her sister had, she certainly had in strength, in her ability of discovery and survival, courage and leadership essential skills in a war. It wasn't the perfect set, but it was exactly why they were two, one completed the other and although Larxly did not have her own Kristelian magick, people believed the combination of the two was able to generate a positive energy which could contain the destruction of the ancient kingdom, if only they had a chance to use it.

Despite all the differences, which often caused quarrels between the two, the twins remained strongly united, disagreements and separations never lasted long. Secretly, Vallery admired her sister's courage, self confidence and her ability to cope with situations that demanded the most of her own abilities. On the other hand, Larxly envied the confidence people had in her sister, her apparent success and especially the legacy of House Kristal she apparently hadn't, but did not let it overwhelm or interfere in their sisterhood, while also admiring her internal strength and the calm with which Vallery dealt with people and situations where her explosive behavior would only put her in danger.

Larxly believed that, in those circumstances, they would be better in Rozarria where she imagined her mother's noble blood would give her protection and status, but Tally Windbreaker was responsible for the fate of the princesses until they were eighteen, so she had to settle with the Captain's decisions for now, agreeing with them or not.

Vallery cut her dark hair shorter, just below her shoulders and her skin was more tanned, she was thinner and had more angular features, looking nothing like the little kristelian princess she once had been. In fact, different from her twin, she adapted quickly to her new life, to the point of near forgetting anything of her old life, except for her family.

Larxly hadn't changed much, despite having grown up. She trained constantly and mostly people considered her a great warrior, but to her it wasn't enough. Vallery did believe her sister was moved by a certain fear she tried to hide and was afraid of where it all would lead.  
Everyone thought Larxly, different from her sister, wasn't ready for her trial just yet. Still, she'd created a fuss over it; the girl would never admit her twin sister was better than her in anything. After long arguments, she was allowed to accompany Vallery. They always did everything together and maybe they would form a good team.

By tradition, the two would share whatever status they did get, unless one of them was married before, what did seem a long way off at the moment, what Larxly considered her luck as Vallery was a few seconds older and always had more charisma among the other refugees.

"Are you ready?" The younger twin asked.

Different from the Kristelian traditions, the trials were made to prove each person against their major weakness, to see t which point they could surpass the difficulties and limitations, in Vallery's case facing a real battle by herself for the first time. Yet, Larxly was sent along because they would not risk the princess' life in the chance she did fail.

"If we wait for me to be ready, I guess we'll be here forever." Fighting wasn't a real issue for her, but when it came to the need of killing anything... She wasn't sure if it was a good idea, after all, there was no more than a slim chance she could do that without her sister's help.  
"You can't be this weak when a war might be upon us at any moment." Her twin protested. "Come on, today is a new day and I've got a good feeling!"

Their hunt, a rare giant wolf that sometimes appeared in those mountains, causing problems for travelers had not yet been found. They were in that for a day and a half but not even Larxly's tracking skills had shown concrete tracks.

"These things must come from the desert." Larxly pointed out. "I've heard they are not like the Worgen here. We are less than a day from border, there is no much more where to hide."

"The captain said we should not go beyond the border." Vallery thought it better to warn. "Our issues should be resolved in our territory, or within the limits set to us."

"Well, I intend to find that thing. It's not like someone would find out, or like we were doing something wrong. They cannot just hold me to these meaningless rules."

"What makes you so interested in a creature that I should be hunting? You were sent here only as a sort of reinforcement."

"I'm your partner, half the reward is mine and you will not ruin my plans. Why do you always have to follow everything everyone says?"

"Maybe for the same reason you never listen to anything or anyone." Vallery suggested, worried. There was a hint of greed in those intentions, or was it just Vallery's own concerns stirring with her nerves?

She had had a difficult sleep the night before and although did not even remember having dreamed, the princess awoke with a terrifying feeling that something was about to happen, something big, unusual, and that would change their destiny in some way. From the beginning she was afraid that dark feeling was referring to her sister, and those attitudes did not help her think otherwise.

"Well, I was not born to follow just any rule people push my way. What kind of princess does that?" Larxly replied, with a hint of pride in her voice.

Vallery sighed, annoyed. Her sister seemed to be the only one who still did not understand, there was no hope for them. Not only because they had so few people and had failed to defend themselves from the same Arcadian armies with more of them, but the Mist which destroyed their first home advanced, slowly yet so fierce and dangerous as any creature from the shadows. In a few years there would be nothing left of Kristelia, no matter if it was for them or their enemies. But hope or not, they were a family and had to stand it as such.

"I usually follow the rules, you don't... That's why Kristelia traditionally always had two people on the throne. No one sees the world completely, so two heads work better. That's why you're here, we can reach a compromise that pleases us both." She tried to appeal to her sister's good side, but it was getting increasingly difficult.

Larxly also sighed, stopped walking and turned to face her twin.

"Okay. What about we go to Nalbina? It's a little beyond the climate change limits, but technically is the official border between the kingdoms. I think I can get teleportation stones for us if we find something, and if we don't have luck, we refill our provisions and try again on our way back."

Vallery smiled. It was always like this, arguments began suddenly, for the most absurd reasons, but they always managed to reach a mutual agreement. And Larxly did say she had not a bit of traditional Kristelian magick, what sister did not understand was that what had kept their kingdom save and prosperous all those years was not magick, but little things like the very peaceful nature of its inhabitants and skills like that one, to always find a favorable agreement between all parties involved... it was the little attitudes and less magickal skills that constituted their true power, until they were caught somewhere in between a war which didn't belong to them.

"Sounds like a plan."

Larxly smiled back. It was hard to be angry with her sister for a long time, and considering they always got to a common understanding, she did not even know why to begin. It was like their nature to get into a conflict, only to strengthen that link they already knew pretty well, as a way to assured that nothing changed between them.

The two resumed their hunt with renewed spirits, laughing and talking as if that brief argument never happened. Vallery had almost reached the point of forgetting her earlier concerns when the two saw the end of their hunt.

The wolf was taller than them and had an atypical color for a creature of the mountains, bright red eyes showed no mercy, sharp fangs and claws threatened to cut through her flesh with easy, even from afar. Vallery froze. It was crazy if anyone expected her to kill that thing! First the young princess did not believe in violence as a solution, but had to learn to defend herself and so accepted that job without hesitation, but imagined it was just a wolf, no more than unusual intelligent or aggressive. But before such a creature she felt intimidated.

"I ... I think I can't do it." Vallery muttered. She wasn't prepared, had told herself the last few days she could do it, but the truth was that she could not muster enough courage.

"It's all right." Larxly held her sister's hand in a comforting gesture. "We can."

She hadn't gone all the way down there to see her sister run back like a frightened hare. Sometimes the young princess believed they were two for a reason and it made no sense to try to separate them, one completed the other and that was the very principle of fraternity upon which Kristelia was built. Obviously then the twins came into a conflict of interests or ideas and Larxly wondered if she was right about that, but right now she was perfectly sure.

Vallery smiled and held her sister's hand harder, thinking how she'd been right all the time about their interaction. Whatever one couldn't do by herself, the two together could overcome, and there was no rule prohibiting teamwork, otherwise they would never have allowed them to get there together.

But Larxly quickly separated from her sister, a look of shock and surprise on her face, eyes focused on the sky. The wolves howled in unison and the sky began dyeing of a darker and bright blue.  
Vallery followed her sister's gaze, to see a comet of bright blue tail streaked across the sky above their heads. With the strange coloring left by the comet's trail, the sky was filled with stars in broad daylight and the Mist started to become dense, bluish and clearly visible in the air.

"It's wonderful!" Larxly whispered.

"This comet should not be here." His sister replied as the big star moved away.

"Why not?"

"Did you never pay attention to the astronomy classes? A blue comet is only seen in Ivalice every hundred years, except that, with this one, at least three have been spotted during the last seven years. Its path has been increasingly irregular and some people they believe this a sign something bad is close to happening. "

"Nonsense." Larxly laughed. "It's a rare opportunity to see one of these! I admit it is loaded with Mist, but Ito think of it as a presage..." The Mist began to fade and the sky returned to its normal color, the girl looked around, but the wolves had fled. In fact, there was no sound or movement in that part of the mountains beside the twins. "Come on, let's see if we still can catch up with that wolf!"

The two sisters continued their way down the mountain for a few meters more but did not need to go far. A howl cut the surprising silence, but it did not sound as a wolf, even so, the sisters decided to go and check. As they approached one of the old shrines of the valley, an ancient fountain built no one knew when, by whom or why, currently out of operation, they saw an ice trail in the vegetation and then the three Humbabas who seemed angry at something the two could not identify. Then the first one fell, followed by a second and it gave the princess a good view of the enemy.

He couldn't be much older than the twins, maybe six or seventeen, blond hair, tanned skin and showed the strength of a trained warrior. But there was something wrong with him, fighting as if under the influence of a Berserk spell and there was ice all over his body. His left arm was almost completely frozen, as well as the opposite ankle and he had a great streak of ice on the right side of his face, besides various small ice spots everywhere else.

When the last Humbaba fell the young man stopped, the apparent anger gave way to confusion and his energy seemed to drain away quickly. He staggered and sought support in the shrine.  
Seeing this abnormal behavior, Vallery ran down to the shrine as well, worried, ignoring her sister's protests, who saw no alternative but to follow her.

"Hello!" The princess called uncertainly, but the young man did not answer, he did seem weak. This made her get closer. "Are you alright?"

This time he turned in her direction and their eyes met, the dalmacan's eyes were blue and bright, but perhaps it was the effect of whatever had frozen him like that. He stumbled toward her, lost his balance but she held in.

"Angela?" He did seem to ask in a whisper before losing consciousness.

"He needs a healer." Vallery turned to her sister. "He's cold!"

Larxly rolled her eyes. She could guess that last part from afar.

"We don't know who he is or where he came from..." Larxly started to protest, she did not trust that guy, the unusual strength and all the ice made her uneasy. Not to mention there was no healer around, the valley used as traveler's camping was hours from there and the princess doubted they had any healer there.

"We can not let him die!" The older twin insisted.

Both thought of a way to convince the other when a new voice distracted both:

"Well, look at what I have caught..." The newcomer commented, casually. "The two fugitive princesses and a stray Scion. "The comet really attracts the most curious creatures, enough to make the wait worth it."

It was a woman, with long snow-white hair, in contrast with her dark misty dress and violet eyes. She walked as if floating and her voice had a dark tone, her silver belt was adorned by curious runes, as well as the cover of the book she carried.

None of the sisters liked the look of the newcomer and even less her words. They did not understand why she called the boy a Scion or how she knew who they were, but it all sounded like a menace.

Vallery tried to remember any spell strong enough to protect the three in the event of an attack and Larxly drew her sword, placing herself in front of her sister in a protective gesture.

"Who are you?" The older princess bravely demanded to know. First the comet, then the boy, now this woman... All these anomalies were beginning to seem like a threat to her and she would not tolerate it. "Stop right there and identify yourself!"

"Such bravery and foolishness in so young hume... It's ridiculous." The woman commented while, in a casual gesture, made Larxly's sword disappear in a cloud of smoke. "Now listen to my warning, give me the Scion and'll let you both live for a while longer. Try to resist and you will have the same destiny as him."

For Larxly it was all right, she herself considered the mysterious boy a threat. Anyone able to knock down three Humbabas unarmed had some kind of supernatural power that should not exist and if she had to choose between her own life and someone so dangerous... But she knew her sister would not agree with this idea. Vallery couldn't kill anything and wasn't that good with fighting in general, but with a life in danger she would risk her own to fight, and Larxly would have to fight to protect her sister anyway, so there was no real choice and she hated feeling trapped that way.

"Come and get him if you want." Vallery challenged, standing up and pulling her own sword. She might not have been ready for the hunt, but wouldn't let anyone die because of her own fear.

The woman only laughed and opened her book, Vallery hesitated and Larxly snatched the sword from her sister's hand, it was clear she would be of no help to the fight even with one of those. And as the woman began to recite what she took as a sort of incantation, the girl knew doing spells by the book took time and advanced, decided to take that brief moment of weakness to attack. The woman made no movement to avoid the attack and did not seem worried. A few meters from hitting her mark Larxly stopped, finding it impossible to make a single movement more, her sister's sword began heaving i her hands then felt the force seizing tight around her throat.

Vallery could actually see the spell forming from the shadows, forming the shape of a giant hand, she tried to call her sister back but found herself unable to voice any sound. Frustrated, the princess didn't give it a second thought as she saw her sister drop her sword, she had never seen such magick, but doubted it could hold both of them back or the woman would already have done so, instead of trying to keep Vallery's own magick at bay with a simple Silence spell.

In a moment of boldness the princess picked the sword up, closed her eyes but, in the last moment changed her mind and turned her attack towards the spell cloud instead of its caster, but an invisible force threw her back.

Her head feeling dizzy and her muscles sore, Vallery still tried to get up, if she could get to her backpack perhaps she could still save her sister, but perhaps realizing her effort, the woman summoned a new shadow, which took the form of a wolf and invested against the fallen girl. The shadow jumped, the princess closed her eyes waiting for the impact, but none came, only the muffled sound of a shot and a body hitting the floor.

A second shot followed, soon joined by the strange sound of an explosion, before Vallery finally summon the courage to open her eyes. Larxly was on the floor, and the mysterious woman they were facing had turned angrily to something behind the princess.

"Do not interfere, young Astral, this fight is not with the ones of your ilk yet." The woman warned, casting new spell against her new enemy, which was countered with new shoot.

Vallery turned to see the newcomer, slight older than herself, no doubt kristelian, although it wasn't hard to pass him as archadian as well. Light brown hair, bright blue eyes with that traditional glint of Kristelian magic, a dashing figure for sure, if the princess was to guess she would say he was a Hunter or Sky Pirate, but she had never seen him before and it wasn't supposed to be other Kristelians around the rest of Ivalice aside from their little refugees group. He did not show any sign of disturbance by the fight and steadily held his gun aimed at the woman.

"It may well be," he replied calmly "but I'm not one of tolerate shadows, let alone when they happen to be hurting young girls. Think of it as you want, this fight is mine as much as it is theirs." His reply was followed by new shoot and proceeded to attack, not giving his enemy much room to anything other than defend herself, but every little moment he took to reload, she was quick to cast a storm of spells his way. He was quick in getting out of the way and shots and spells flew everywhere. The faster the battle ended, the better for any of them.

Vallery saw this distraction as an advantage and ran for her things, hoping she could be of any help, finding the leftover of Echo Herbs she still had, the taste was bitter, but she felt the spell's effect wearing off almost immediately.

Determined, the girl began to invoke the only great spell she knew. The Mist's energy flowed easy to her, with an unusual tingling sensation running through her body like electricity, she had never felt so alive, never felt so much power... The air began to be filled by a strong white light, which began to envelope the mysterious woman, who still tried to cast new spell towards the princess, but a water barrier protected the girl. She let out a loud cry when the light began to dissipate and no trace of her existence was left behind when the spell was gone.

Taking a deep breath, Vallery dropped to her knees as the sudden energy abandoned her. She looked up as the sound of footsteps approached and saw the young kristelian hunter looking down at her as he let out a low whistle.

"That was impressive!" He extended a hand to help the girl to her feet. "Are you all right?"

"Still hurts a little." She replied, accepting the unknown's man help. "Thank you, for saving me."

"Didn't do more than my duty. But it seems your friends do need help. Can you walk?" Vallery only nodded. "Do you think you can carry her?" He asked, picking up the young dalmascan.

The princess wasn't sure but, for her sister, she would try anything. She walked to Larxly and tried to lift her, surprisingly it was easier than the girl even expected. Or her sister was a little under her usual weight, or the Mist was still helping her.

Confuse, a little nervous and full of questions, Vallery followed the mysterious guy through a trail different from the one the two sisters came through. The only thing clear in her mind, was the fact the comet was really beginning to change everything, in a way or another.


End file.
